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PS PK K 1 2 3 72 Comments

Christmas problem solving activity

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I have a problem.

I’m a clip art addict.

Sometimes I buy clip art without any idea what I’m going to create … because it’s Just. So. Perfect.

That’s how I felt about this Christmas sweater clip art. How could I resist?

Thankfully, I thought of the perfect use for these adorable sweaters … problem solving!

I created a set of task cards. Each card has a set of clues to help kids determine the mystery sweater.

As soon as my Six saw it, he was excited to play.

Examples of clues:

• The sweater has  a V-neck.
• The sweater does not have polka dots.
• The front of the sweater has something you can hang on a tree.

By the last clue, he had narrowed down the possibilities until he knew which was the mystery sweater. He wrote its letter on his recording sheet.

As he did the activity, I realized that the activity reinforces quite a few skills:

• Basic reading skills
• Close reading skills (detail is important here!)
• Basic logic
• Problem solving

It surprised me when my son didn’t always cover the correct sweaters. For example, with a clue like this one:  The sweater does not have a face on it , he should cover the sweaters with faces because none of them can be the mystery sweater.

Instead, he left those sweaters uncovered and covered all the rest.

Since I was right there with him, I showed him how to read the cards more carefully and figure out which sweaters to eliminate.

I designed the activity for fluent readers in grades 1-2, but on reflection I think third graders could use it too.

As you can see in the above picture, my Four was thoroughly engaged. She wants to do the activity as well; she’ll just need me to read the clues to her.

I hope your learners enjoy this festive problem solving activity!

P.S. If you like this printable, you need the bundle of 50 mystery problem solving activities !

Get your free problem solving activity!

If you like this activity, you’ll love the bundle.

Mystery problem solving activities

$ 20.00

Build critical thinking skills with 50 engaging mystery problem solving activities! Just print each picture mat and clue cards. Students will read the clues and discovery the mystery character or object.

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Reader Interactions

72 comments.

December 18, 2019 at 5:08 am

This is amazing, I’m gonna use it in class for sure! Thank you!

December 16, 2019 at 6:41 am

Thank you again for another fun game! Thank you for helping my kids have fun while learning. I learn and am inspired by your website. THANK YOU!

Margaret Green

December 15, 2019 at 5:25 pm

i absolutely love this game! I know my kiddos will too!!!! Thank you for making my last week – before winter/Christmas break – fun and easier!!!

Good Tidings to You!

December 15, 2019 at 8:24 pm

I’m so glad this came at the right time, Margaret! 🙂

December 15, 2019 at 1:54 pm

Love the sweaters and you found the PERFECT way to use them! Can’t wait to use this in my centers this week!

Yay – have fun, Carrie!

December 13, 2019 at 9:25 am

I have been following your site for many, many years. My son is a disabled adult. Even though he is not in school anymore; this is exactly the type of activity he needs to keep his brain sharp ( and mine too). Thank you so much!

December 13, 2019 at 5:33 pm

I’m so glad you and he can use this, Janet! :))

December 13, 2019 at 7:49 am

Thank you so much! I know my kiddos will adore this. 🙂

Carolyn McDonough

December 13, 2019 at 7:23 am

Love this! What a fun way work language AND problem solving skills into an activity for my English Learners!!!

December 13, 2019 at 7:05 am

I admire your love for the meaningful creation of resources of teaching English. Thank you very much for the dedication you put in. I should call it passion. You, definitely, have that passion. One idea comes after another, and more it flows out of the need to create as long as you don’t stop. I see that through my teaching experience. It does consume with fatigue, indeed. But, it is the sort of fatigue that requires a moment of breathing, for more awaits behind to come en-suite and shower the spirit with surprising ideas that help so beautifully the learning process. I welcome this sort of fatigue. I look forward to more of your ideas. It is one of my favourite websites when I search for such inspiration.

Thank you so much for the encouragement, Jean! :))

Elaine Cornish

December 13, 2019 at 4:05 am

This game is so successful. I am a retired teacher. I live in South Africa. I teach underprivileged deaf children pro bona. I use so much of your stuff and just love your games and ideas. I would LOVE to subscribe but the Rand dollar exchange is just so terrible. So $10 equates to about R150.00 just too much right now. So please keep your freebies coming for teachers like me. Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family and a wonderful new year. I really admire you. Elaine Cornish.

Yes, I hope to keep sharing freebies as often as I can, Elaine! 🙂

December 13, 2019 at 2:39 am

Lovely ! thank you very much!

December 13, 2019 at 12:57 am

This is exactly what my tutoring kids need. I was wondering how to teach how to slove problems for themselves. That is something they need to read and do MANY other things. Thank you for your neat ideas.

December 12, 2019 at 10:05 pm

I have used the “Mystery Snowman” and “Mystery dog” logic games with a 3rd grade “reluctant reader” tutoring student. He will do these over and over as our warm-up…I’m SO thrilled to use this next week AND to know you have a whole set with many more themes! Thank you for being so generous with your freebies.

December 13, 2019 at 5:34 pm

Yay – I’m so glad these are a hit, Lisa!

Catherine Peters

December 12, 2019 at 8:56 pm

We are in the midst of semester testing. This will provide a fun break. Thank you so much!

Jessica Grove

December 12, 2019 at 8:38 pm

So fun! Thank you!

December 12, 2019 at 8:37 pm

love this activity- can’t wait until my kids get to work it out. thank you for all that you do.

February 19, 2019 at 8:56 am

Fabulous! Next year I’m going to read this in my EFL classroom!

Thanks for sharing this lovely activity =)

March 2, 2019 at 5:19 pm

You’re very welcome, Barbara!

January 18, 2019 at 3:06 pm

Do you have “Guess the Mystery …” with other objects? I’d love to use them. Thanks!

January 18, 2019 at 8:57 pm

Hi Pamela! I have a “guess the mystery dog” and “guess the mystery snowman” in the subscriber library. If you’re not a newsletter subscriber yet, you can sign up and grab those. 🙂

January 10, 2019 at 3:36 pm

I would love if you would make more of these available. My students just love doing them. I’m thinking snowmen or valentines would make great puzzles. You offer amazing resources!

January 10, 2019 at 6:17 pm

I’m working on a huge bundle of these, so stay tuned for that! Subscribers will get it for a discount. 🙂

December 21, 2018 at 9:12 pm

I really appreciate all the free resources you are willing to share. This is for sure one of my favorites! Thank you & Merry Christmas!

December 27, 2018 at 8:20 am

Thank you, Marie!

December 19, 2018 at 4:21 pm

Hi Anna, I used this with my English Learners in grades 3-8 today. The grades 3-5 enjoyed it. They are Progressing English Learners and understood most of the vocabulary. It was a good exercise for their brain logic skills. My grade 6-8 English Learners are non-English speakers. It was a challenge for them with vocabulary such as “polka dots, cuffs, patches, and a set of 3.” It was good for them to learn. We used M&M’s as markers for fun and they enjoyed that of course. Thank you for a fun game! Love the graphics.

December 26, 2018 at 12:08 pm

Yay! I’m so glad this was a good fit for your students.

December 19, 2018 at 1:46 pm

My 1st gr class did this activity whole class and loved it!! Great last day before break activity!!

December 27, 2018 at 8:19 am

Yay! I’m so glad this was a good fit for your learners.

December 18, 2018 at 6:26 pm

We LOVE this Christmas problem solving activity and are hoping that you will make some activities like this one!!!!

Keep watching the subscriber library! I have plans to make more soon.

December 18, 2018 at 2:26 pm

Hi Anna, This game is so cute and fun! I’ve used it with a 3rd grader and two learning challenged 4th graders today and they all liked it! The 3rd graders was sad that the Santa sweater (F) was never the one. Maybe you could change the clues on card 9 to end up being Santa?? (I was going to do that with her tomorrow – come up with our own clues to lead finders to F.)

I use lots of your freebies and I really appreciate you sharing them with us.

Merry Christmas!

December 21, 2018 at 6:35 am

I’m going to make adjustments to the activity over the break. 🙂

December 18, 2018 at 9:53 am

My six and five adored this! They were a little confused about number 9, though. They counted the berries as a set of three (sweater B) and therefore crossed off all the sweaters! Great resource for them to practice on these “it’s almost Christmas!” days!

December 18, 2018 at 12:04 pm

Ha, yes, one of my kids caught that, too. We’ve got a houseful of the stomach bug, but when I have some time I’ll change that one.

Susan Farrar

December 17, 2018 at 3:30 pm

Thank you so much! My students love mysteries and logic problems.

December 27, 2018 at 8:22 am

You’re very welcome, Susan!

December 17, 2018 at 12:01 pm

Hi Anna! This is such a cute idea! My kids enjoyed it this morning! Just wanted to let you know about something that threw them off a bit. #9 has a clue about sets of 3, but the answer has 3 berries! I didn’t catch it originally. But just thought I would let you know. ?

December 17, 2018 at 8:52 am

Thank you Anna! Just what I needed for Monday morning.

December 17, 2018 at 8:41 am

Perfect little game to entertain my grandchildren over the holiday break. Thanks!

December 16, 2018 at 10:51 pm

I absolutely love this! Thank you so much.

December 19, 2018 at 7:29 am

You’re welcome, Shannon!

December 16, 2018 at 10:41 pm

Thank you so much for posting this! We played this game today with my 7 year old and 5 year olds. My 7 year old hit all the right answers and well the other 2 just had fun. I love your resources and I feel grateful to have found your website. Merry Christmas and thanks again for spreading your good cheer!!!

You’re very welcome! I hope you find many helpful resources on my site.

December 16, 2018 at 7:46 pm

So clever! Can’t wait to use!

Thank you, Renee!

December 16, 2018 at 5:54 pm

Love this activity and appreciate the wide range of students who will enjoy it as I work with K-5 students. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

December 19, 2018 at 7:25 am

Thank you, Jane!

December 16, 2018 at 4:52 pm

Thank you for sharing this cute activity. Hope you have a good week.

December 19, 2018 at 7:23 am

You’re welcome, Jan!

December 16, 2018 at 4:42 pm

So cute! Thank you! I’ll be using in my 2nd grade on this last week before break.

December 19, 2018 at 7:24 am

You’re welcome, Beth!

December 16, 2018 at 4:17 pm

I love this. Thank you so much. Can’t wait to use it.

I hope you can use them, Pat!

Fran Chodack

December 16, 2018 at 2:49 pm

Thank you so much for sharing your activities and printables. They have a fresh, engaging quality about them. You are the best!

December 19, 2018 at 7:28 am

Thank you for your kind words, Fran!

Claudette GILLES

December 16, 2018 at 1:56 pm

Dear Anna, thank you so much for your wonderful freebies which have become essential in helping me to fulfil my grandmother’s role !

You’re very welcome, Claudette!

December 12, 2019 at 8:51 pm

Will this work to print in black and white or does it need to be in color for the clues to make sense?

Virginia Mayer-Brown

December 16, 2018 at 1:55 pm

This is perfect for this week when the kids I care for after school will not have homework but I want them opportunities to exercise their brains.

I hope it helps, Virginia!

December 16, 2018 at 1:39 pm

I love this Christmas Sweater game!

December 19, 2018 at 7:27 am

I’m so glad, Jo!

Deb Roethle

January 4, 2021 at 8:00 am

I teach Reading to 4K – 4th grade. I teach in a rural school in Neosho, Wisconsin. (HNR School Elementary). I love all the activities that I have used through your site.

Tammy Cantagallo

I so enjoy your creativity and your love of clip art!! ( I am not very computer savvy). The games and resources that you create make my students ( and me of course) look forward to learning. Thank you for all that you do:)

December 15, 2019 at 3:17 am

grazie ! ^_^

[…] and problem solving skills to determine which sweater is the secret sweater. This activity is from The Measured Mom and has a sweater printable as well as the clues kids can use to solve the […]

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Christmas Math Activities: Problem Solving With the 12 Days of Christmas

Here’s a fun way to connect your classroom holiday sing-a-long with fantastic math concepts – perfect for ages 8 and up! In fact, students who love math may get so caught up in all of the number patterns they can find in The 12 Days of Christmas song that they may not want to stop!

This activity requires no special materials, just paper and pencil and the lyrics of The 12 Days of Christmas. Y ou can find the lyrics along with some problem solving prompts and record sheets at the bottom of the post, available as a free printable download.

You’re probably already familiar with the song but in case you need a refresher, here’s how it begins:

The 12 Days Of Christmas On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me A partridge in a pear tree. On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Now here’s the interesting question to pose to middle-grade students – have you ever wondered how many gifts in total were received? 

Many will immediately work on adding them up this way:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 =

Although this is not going to produce the true answer, it can be a great opportunity to reinforce finding sums of 10 first.

By counting the ten made (1+ 9)+ (2 + 8) (3 + 7), and (4 + 6) and adding the remaining numbers ( +5, +10, +11, +12), the sum of 78 can be determined fairly quickly.

That’s quite a heap of presents! However, you might ask, “Is this really what the song says – that one gift is given each day?”

After a closer look at the lyrics, students will see that on the second day, it appears that the “true love” gives three gifts- two turtle doves and another partridge in a pear tree!

Now the math fun really begins! Ask students to list the days and the number of presents given! Have them predict the grand total before actually doing the figuring.

Day 1 – 1 gift Day 2 – 3 gifts Day 3 – 6 gifts Day 4 – 10 gifts

…. and so on.

This song is “super mathy” with patterns galore! Ask students to see if they notice any patterns as they figure the gifts. They might see this one:

Day 1 : 1 Day 2 : 3 (1 + 2) Day 3 : 6 (1 + 2 + 3) Day 4 : 10 (1 + 2 + 3 + 4)

Recognizing patterns in math is the basis of all kinds of more advanced work. Some students might notice the numbers of gifts received are all “triangular numbers,” numbers that can be formed by dots in triangles.

When students have a chance to work with the new sums, then total them, they should find that the grand total of all gifts received is 364 !

For older students, additional questions can lead to more discoveries. For example:

Which gifts will total a dozen by the end of the song? Partridges and drummers (Each day, one partridge will be given so there will be a total of 12. On just one day, Day 12, a dozen drummers will be given.)

Of the 364 gifts, which ones will be given in the greatest numbers? Geese and swans – (6 geese will be given a total of 7 days for a total of 42 geese; 7 swans will be given 6 out of the twelve days for a total of 42 swans)

We’ve included these questions in the printable 12 days of Christmas Math Activity Pack (which you can download and print below). The pack includes the song lyrics and four pages of Christmas math activities related to the song.

There you have it! A very “mathy” Christmas carol it is, and you may never be able to hear it again without thinking about all the computations and number applications!

RELATED: Looking for more holiday activity ideas for  school age kids? Check out our 12 Days of Christmas Fun for School Age Kids .

Printing your 12 days of christmas math activity sheets.

Click here to download: 12 Days of Christmas Math Activities . Save the PDF to your computer. Open the PDF and print the pages you require. When printing, select “Fit to printable area” (or similar) to ensure the page fits with your printer type and local paper size (these have been created at A4 size).

Having trouble accessing or downloading the file? Please try a different internet browser. Please note: All Childhood 101 printables are for personal use only, you may not use any part of this content for commercial purposes-that includes selling the document, giving it away to promote your business or website, or printing the file to sell. You may not share, loan or redistribute these documents. Teachers may use multiple copies for students in their own classroom.

Christie Burnett is a teacher, author and mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to find engaging, high quality learning ideas.

One Comment

Fabulous resource – thank you so much for sharing it…

Comments are closed.

Trending Resource : 40+ Activities for the First Week of School

Christmas Math Activities and Puzzles

This blog post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Bring some Christmas joy to your classroom or party with this collection of free printable Christmas math puzzles and activities.

Keep reading to find a variety of Christmas logic puzzles, crafts, and hands-on puzzles involving tangrams or pentominoes.

Christmas Math Lessons

Christmas mystery tangram coordinate plane activity.

This Christmas Mystery Tangram Puzzle combines two favorite math activities into one. This printable Christmas puzzle will have students both practicing plotting ordered pairs on the coordinate plane and solving a fun tangram puzzle using the resulting outline from the plotted ordered pairs.

Christmas-Themed Parabola Graph Matching Activity

Students must match the equations of the parabolas with their graphs in order to decorate the tree. What a great task from Math with P. Nik!

Piecewise Function Christmas Tree Graphing

Do your students need some practice graphing piecewise functions? Challenge them to graph a Christmas Tree in Desmos!

Christmas Factor Trees

Your students will be singing “Oh Factor Tree, Oh Factor Tree…” when you get them making their factor trees in the shape of Christmas Trees!

Surface Area and Volume Gingerbread House Project

Carol Anderson shares a fun-looking lesson that involves surface area and volume combined with building gingerbread houses.

Holiday Exponent Problems

Students use their knowledge of exponents to figure out which holiday exponent problems are correct and which are incorrect.

Winter Slope Field Activity

Teaching slope fields in calculus? When students draw in the solution curves, it will create a fun winter themed picture for them to decorate.

Arithmetic Sequences/Series Christmas Decorating Task

Can your students use their knowledge of arithmetic sequences/series to solve a real-world problem about building a Christmas tree display out of handprints?

Desmos Gingerbread House Activity

Natalie McCrady inspires with an activity that involves using equations to graph a gingerbread house in Desmos. After students are done, they create a real-life version complete with candy decorations. How fun!

Christmas Puzzles

Reindeer pentominoes puzzle.

This reindeer pentominoes puzzle is the second addition to my growing collection of Christmas-themed pentominoes puzzles for the classroom. My students love pentominoes puzzles, and I think your students will love these puzzles as well!

Checkered Ornament Puzzle

Arrange the given pieces to decorate the ornament with a checkered pattern. This puzzle I created a few years ago now is trickier than it might first appear!

Penguin Pentominoes Puzzle

Can you arrange a set of twelve pentominoes to form the shape of a penguin?

Reindeer Logic Puzzle

This reindeer logic puzzle is perfect for bringing a bit of Christmas cheer into your classroom. Students are given seven statements about Santa’s reindeer who have run a race. They must use logical reasoning to determine the order in which the reindeer finished the race.

Christmas Tree Pentominoes Puzzle

Help bring some festive puzzling spirit to your classroom with this pentominoes Christmas tree puzzle. My students love pentominoes puzzles, and I think your students will love these puzzles as well!

Decorate the Tree Christmas Puzzle

This Decorate the Christmas Tree Puzzle was my first ever original puzzle that I made for my classroom. Since then, it has been used in hundreds of math classrooms across the country!

Christmas Prime Tree Puzzle

Luke Janicke shares a clever Christmas-themed prime number puzzle . Can you fill in the stars with digits so that each line in the tree forms a different prime number?

Holiday Triples Puzzle

Can you combine the letter trio cards to spell out some words associated with Christmas? Each trio of letters will be used exactly one time.

Christmas Games and Activities

Drawing on your head christmas game.

Looking for a fun Christmas game? Check out this drawing on your head Christmas challenge. The original challenge called for the participants to draw on a paper plate on top of their heads, but I switched things up and had my students draw on individual dry erase boards .

Christmas Tree Nim Game

The classic game of nim gets a fun seasonal twist in the form of a Christmas tree shaped playing board!

Strategy Games for Student Christmas Gifts

Mrs. Allan suggests a great way to use a strategy game ( Mulinello Quadrupio ) to create a meaningful present for all of the students in her homeroom class.

Christmas Math Art Activities

Math vocabulary christmas ornament project.

Check out these math vocabulary Christmas ornaments that my Algebra 2 students created. Each student was assigned a different math vocabulary word that we studied during the first semester.

Icosahedron Ornament Balls Tutorial

These Icosahedron Ornament Balls can be made using scrapbook paper or old Christmas cards. They make the perfect winter craft!

Borax Snowflake Christmas Ornaments

One of my most favorite projects was these Borax Snowflake Christmas Ornaments that I made a few years ago with my chemistry students with coffee filters. The ornaments are super glittery and sparkly in person.

Triangular Christmas Trees

These triangular christmas trees from Mark Ekstrom are beautiful! They are based on a tutorial from Martha Stewart .

Parabolic Tangent Line Christmas Tree Craft

These Christmas trees made with string, nails, and a piece of wood look so cool!

Christmas Classroom Decorating Ideas

Mathematical christmas display.

This inspiring mathematical Christmas display from James Welham includes Sierpinski trees, Koch snowflakes, and student-created origami.

Math Door Decorating Ideas

Caitlyn Gironda – 12 Days of Math Class Door Decorations

Miscellaneous Christmas Ideas

Not your average winter break homework.

Sara VanDerWerf provides an example of an awesome winter break homework assignment. Some of the tasks include watching movies, hanging out with family, and doing random acts of kindness.

Customized Christmas Ornaments for Students

Rory Yakubov shares an easy way to create custom laminated ornaments for each student in your classes.

More Christmas Activities

Sarah Carter teaches high school math in her hometown of Coweta, Oklahoma. She currently teaches AP Precalculus, AP Calculus AB, and Statistics. She is passionate about sharing creative and hands-on teaching ideas with math teachers around the world through her blog, Math = Love.

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Christmas Math Activities

Welcome to the Math Salamanders Christmas Math Activities. Here you will find a wide range of free printable Christmas Math sheets, Christmas Math games and Christmas math challenges.

For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript.

Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser .

Quicklinks to:

• Christmas Math Games
• Fun Christmas Worksheets
• Christmas Color By Number
• Christmas Puzzles (easy)
• Christmas Puzzles (medium)
• Christmas Puzzles (hard)

Here you will find a range of Christmas Math Activities from 1st grade and upwards.

There sheets are grouped by type and start off easier to harder. The Math skills involved include adding and subtracting.

We have a wide selection of different Christmas math activities, including:

• Christmas Nets
• Block Coordinates
• Line Coordinates
• Addition and Subtraction

Printable Christmas Crafts

We have created a few Christmas nets for craft activities around Christmas time.

It is best if you can print them out on card as they are a bit fiddly to do on paper.

Great for developing cutting and sticking skills and a fun activitiy to do around Christmas time.

• Printable Christmas Crafts (nets)

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Christmas Block Coordinates

Here are some block coordinate sheets with a Christmas theme. The answer sheets are shown as thumbnails.

The sheets use an alphanumerical coordinate grid where the horizontal axis is a letter and the vertical axis a number.

Each coordinate needs to be identified and then shaded the correct color.

• Christmas Block Coordinates Sheet 1
• Sheet 1 Answers
• PDF version
• Christmas Block Coordinates Sheet 2
• Sheet 2 Answers
• Christmas Block Coordinates Sheet 3
• Sheet 3 Answers
• Christmas Block Coordinates Sheet 4
• Sheet 4 Answers
• Christmas Block Coordinates Sheet 5
• Sheet 5 Answers
• Christmas Block Coordinates Sheet 6
• Sheet 6 Answers
• Christmas Block Coordinates Sheet 7

Christmas Line Coordinates

Here are some line coordinate sheets with a Christmas theme. The answer sheets are shown as thumbnails.

The first set of sheets - Find the Coordinates is easier.

The second set of sheets - Joining and Plotting Coordinates is harder.

Find the Christmas Coordinates

These sheets involve writing down the coordinates of different Christmas themed pictures on the grid.

There is also a challenge to find Santa's Secret Grotto using the clues on the sheet provided.

• Find the Christmas Coordinates 1
• Find the Christmas Coordinates 2

Find the Christmas Coordinates Walkthrough Video

This short video walkthrough shows our Find the Christmas Coordinates Sheet 1 being solved and has been produced by the West Explains Best math channel.

If you would like some support in solving the problems on these sheets, please check out the video below!

Christmas Line Coordinate Sheets

These sheets involve plotting and then joining sets of coordinates together.

The shapes must then be shaded in to create a Christmas picture.

These sheets are more challenging than the block coordinate sheets, and also the finding coordinate sheets.

• Christmas Line Coordinates Sheet 1
• Christmas Line Coordinates Sheet 2
• Christmas Line Coordinates Sheet 3
• Christmas Line Coordinates Sheet 4

Christmas Line Coordinates Walkthrough Video

This short video walkthrough shows our Christmas Line Coordinates Sheet 4 being solved and has been produced by the West Explains Best math channel.

Christmas Dot to Dot Worksheets

We also have several dot-to-dot worksheets with a Christmas theme.

The sheets can also be used as color-in sheets as well as dot to dot sheets.

The sheets have been put in order from smallest number of dots to the largest.

• Christmas dot-to-dot up to 15
• Dot to Dot Winter 1 (up to 20)
• Christmas Dot to Dot 1 (up to 20)
• Christmas Dot to Dot 2 (up to 22)
• Dot to Dot Winter 2 (up to 31)
• Christmas dot-to-dot up to 34
• Dot to Dot Winter 4 (up to 42)
• Christmas Dot to Dot 3 (up to 46)

Kindergarten Christmas Counting Activity

These kindergarten counting worksheets all have a Christmas theme.

They cover counting up to 12, and also matching and counting the correct objects.

Each sheet is available as a color version or as a coloring sheet in black and white.

• Kindergarten Christmas Counting 1
• b/w version
• Kindergarten Christmas Counting 2
• Kindergarten Christmas Counting 3
• Kindergarten Christmas Counting 4

Christmas Tree Addition and Subtraction

• Addition and Subtraction 1
• Addition and Subtraction 2
• Addition and Subtraction 3
• Addition and Subtraction 4
• Addition and Subtraction 5

Christmas Tree Activities Templates

Here you will find two template sheets for the Christmas math activities featured on this page. You can print these sheets and tailor them to suit your child's needs.

• Christmas Trees Challenge blank
• Christmas Tree Number Challenge blank

Looking for more Christmas themed worksheets

We have a wide selection of Christmas worksheets suitable for kids of all ages.

Christmas Math Worksheets & Challenges

Here is our selection of Christmas Math Challenges from 1st grade and upwards.

There are a range of challenges including code breaking, word problems, and word finding Christmas Math Challenges.

Each challenge is carefully graded and comes complete with answers.

• Christmas Maths Worksheets (Easy)
• Christmas Math Worksheets (Intermediate)
• Christmas Math Challenges (Harder)

Free Christmas Worksheets - Color in

We also have a selection of color-in Christmas worksheets.

There are writing and coloring, color-in and color-by-number sheets for your child to enjoy.

• Free Christmas Worksheets for kids

Penguin Dot to Dot

Check out our dot to dot worksheets with a penguin theme.

We have several sheets up to different totals.

• Penguin dot to dot worksheets

Winter Dot to Dot

Check out our dot to dot worksheets with a winter theme.

• Winter Dot to Dot worksheets

How to Print or Save these sheets 🖶

Need help with printing or saving? Follow these 3 steps to get your worksheets printed perfectly!

• How to Print support

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Mr Barton Maths Podcast

Long-form conversations about teaching and learning with craig barton, maths christmas activities and resources.

With the last week of term finally upon us, I have collected together some of my favourite maths Christmas resources and activities from the TES Maths website. These are all freely available to download by registering on the website.

I hope you enjoy them, and you make it to the end of term in one piece!

1. The  Maths Christmas Activities booklet is crammed full of festive fun

2.  The “Who killed Santa?” mystery is a TES festive classic!

3.   GCSE Maths Christmas puzzles will keep your students thinking

4.  Try a bit of Christmas Countdown to keep the brain ticking over

5.   “Who Kidnapped Santa?” – Can you solve this maths mystery?

6.  There are bundles of quality in these maths Christmas worksheets

7.  Christmas and Tarsia – the perfect combination! 🙂

8. A Maths themed Christmas Quiz lesson

9. I have put together 11 Just for Fun Quiz rounds, including classics such as Xmas Song Lyrics, on my Diagnostic Questions website here

10. The wonderful Colleen Young has her own 2014 Maths Christmas Collection available here

Finally, here is my choice for the TES Maths Christmas Activity of the Year 2014:

You can download this lovely resource here

Leave a Reply

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Tacky Christmas Sweater Problem Solving Activity

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Fractions in Everyday Life - Problem Solving

What Is a Bar Model? How to Use This Math Problem-Solving Method in Your Classroom

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Fun Christmas Math Problems

I teach at a very small private school, and each year we have a math team to compete at the state math meet. A team consists of ten students, and ten students is about the size of our  entire  high school (which is wonderful when you get to teach class sizes of anywhere from one to eight students, but is not so great for raising up a ten person math team). We usually end up having half a team, and half of the students are middle schoolers.

We know that we're not going to be "competitive," but I try to make sure that the students have some fun doing problem solving activities together. One of the big challenges is trying to create competition-style problem sets that have something that's feasible for my entire range of students from sixth graders to twelfth graders.

This year I put together a set of Christmas-themed problems for my students to work on as a team. The problem set is the attached printable file, and there is a solution key below.

This problem set would also work well as a Christmasy problem-solving activity for a high school math class.

Handouts/Worksheets

Christmas problems.

• How many gifts were given in all in the song “The Twelve days of Christmas”?  
• The earth has eight billion people, and the average family size is 2.5 people. 75% of all families have children, and 3 8  of those families have only “nice” children. If Santa only visits families that don’t have any “naughty” children, how many families does he have to visit?  
• I have a certain amount of money to spend on Christmas gifts. I spent half of it on my wife, a third of the remaining money on my son, and half of the remaining money on my daughter. When I was all done, I had $12 to spend on the baby. How much money did I start with?  
• The Christmas eggnog was not creamy enough; it was only 30% cream. How much half-and-half (50% milk, 50% cream) must be added to five gallons of eggnog to make it 45% cream?  
• Santa’s workshop is filled with elves, reindeer and snowmen. Elves have two legs, reindeer have four, and snowmen have none. In all there are 72 “creatures” in the workshop, and 176 feet. Only elves and snowmen wear hats, and there were 40 hats in the workshop. How many snowmen were there?  
• In how many distinct ways can the letters of the name “SANTA” be arranged?  
• Hermie can open presents at a rate of three presents every two minutes. Rudolph can open presents at a rate of two presents every five minutes. If they work together, how many minutes will it take them to open 133 presents?  
• At dawn on December 1st, Frosty the Snowman is 62 inches tall. Every day Frosty melts a little, decreasing his height by 4 inches. Every night it snows a little, increasing his height by 3 inches. On what day will Frosty reach a height of zero inches?

Christmas Problems: Solution Key

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21 Virtual Christmas Games To Play On Zoom With Adults 

By: Angela Robinson | Updated: August 23, 2024

You found our list of fun virtual Christmas games to play on Zoom.

Virtual Christmas games are fun holiday challenges that teams can play together on video calls. Example games include Jingle Mingle Bingo, Winter Minute to Win It, and Never Have I Ever: Christmas edition. The purpose of these activities is to engage the virtual audience and add holiday fun to virtual Christmas parties or work meetings. These activities are also known as “online Christmas party games.”

These exercises are a type of Zoom team game and a virtual holiday party activity . You can use these activities as a form of virtual holiday team building or holiday team building .

This list includes:

• Virtual Christmas party games
• Christmas Zoom games
• Online games for Christmas parties

Here we go!

List of virtual Christmas games

From scavenger hunts to gift exchanges to holiday movie charades, here is a list of fun online games to play on Zoom for Christmas.

1. Jingle Mingle Bingo

Jingle Mingle Bingo is one of the best virtual Christmas party games. To play the game via Zoom, split the group into teams by creating breakout rooms, and give each team a link to a Bingo card. To mark off a square, participants must find another player who fits the description. The first group to get five boxes in a row and return to the breakout room wins.

You can also play the game in the main Zoom room by giving each player a different Bingo card, and then having participants take turns stating a Christmas-y fact about themselves.

We made an online Christmas Bingo generator you can use for your game:

Get Just the Bingo Card

For similar exercises, check out online team building Bingo .

2. Gingerbread Games (Fully hosted + with real gingerbread cookies!)

It’s the best festive time your team will ever have in a Zoom room! Our team will send your participants a complete gingerbread person + tree cookie kit, full of all the cookies and decorating supplies needed for an epic holiday showdown. Our world-class hosts will lead your group through a series of games, challenges, and activities, all featuring your gingerbread cookies! At the end of the event, you’ll be able to crown the office Gingerbread Games champion. Be sure to book early; Santa’s sleigh leaves the North Pole with gingerbread cookies by the end of November.

More information about Gingerbread Games .

Get our free team building toolbox

• icebreaker games
• bingo cards

3. Seasonal Scavenger Hunt

Seasonal scavenger hunts are one of the best Christmas Zoom games. These activities are ways to get the group up and moving and energize a Zoom gathering. There are several ways to structure a Zoom holiday scavenger hunt. For example, you can do a lightning scavenger hunt , where participants race around the house or office to grab items the host names off one by one. You can also display the list on the screen and give players three five minutes to grab as many objects as possible.

Here is a template we made for this format:

•  Split the group into teams by making breakout rooms. Before the players enter the room, drop a link in the chat for the prompts.
• Give teams 10 minutes or so to find or stage the photos on the list.
• When time is up, recall the players to the main room.
• Randomly choose a few teams to compete in each photo category. Players can either share their screens to show off photos or drop a file into the chat.
• Choose a winner in each category and award points.

The team with the most points at the end of the list wins the game.

Here is a starter template we made for your game:

Check out this collection of holiday scavenger hunts , and this list of photo scavenger hunts .

4. Holiday This or That

Holiday This or That is one of the easiest virtual holiday games for large groups. To play, the leader reads out a series of prompts, and players must respond with their preference. Participants can answer using the reactions feature on Zoom, write and hold up the answer on a piece of paper, or type the answer in the chat.

The game helps groups find common ground, yet may also spark lively debate. This or That can also help create a sense of solidarity among members of the group.

Here are a few starter Christmas This or That prompts:

• Trees or wreaths?
• Snowflakes or icicles?
• Xmas Eve or Xmas morning?
• Gingerbread or sugar cookies?
• Elves or reindeer?
• Snow men or snow angels?
• Caroling or looking at lights?
• Angel tree topper or star tree topper?
• Real tree or fake tree?

Check out this list of This or That questions .

5. The Naughty List

The Naughty List is that gets players to fess up to holiday misdeeds. To play this Zoom game, participants start with cameras on. The leader reads off a series of “naughty” deeds, and players who are guilty of the behavior must turn their cameras off. At the end of the game, the players who remain on screen are on the “nice” list, and receive a prize.

Here are a few starter prompts:

• Told a child Santa wasn’t real.
• Pretended to be sleeping so I didn’t have to shovel.
• Gifted someone an item I got for free.
• Watched Netflix during the workday.
• Ran a red light.
• Cut someone off in traffic.
• Raided someone else’s candy stash.
• Left dirty dishes for a couple of days.
• Argued over pop culture.
• Binge-watched reality shows for 5+ hours.
• Privately messaged a coworker about an unrelated topic during a Zoom meeting.

Feel free to add on to the prompts, and check out more Zoom drinking games .

6. Never Have I Ever: Christmas Edition

Never Have I Ever: Christmas Edition is an icebreaker game, and one of the most popular virtual happy hour holiday games. At the start of the game, each player holds up ten fingers, or “reindeer antlers.” Players take turns making statements that start with “Never Have I Ever.” Participants must lower a finger every time they hear something they have done.

• Never Have I Ever re-gifted a present.
• Never Have I Ever eaten a whole bowl of cookie dough.
• Never Have I Ever snuck one of Santa’s cookies.
• Never Have I Ever given a petty present.
• Never Have I Ever given a coupon book as a present.
• Never Have I Ever lied about a present getting delayed in the mail.
• Never Have I Ever spent more than $1,000 on an Xmas present.
• Never Have I Ever gifted someone with a December birthday one present for both occasions.
• Never Have I Ever spent Christmas in an airport.
• Never Have I Ever spent Christmas in a warm country.

The prompts do not have to necessarily be naughty deed, and can be unusual holiday behaviors as well.

The game ends when only one player remains, or after a set number of rounds.

Here is a list of the best Never Have I Ever questions for work .

7. Secret Santa

Secret Santa exchanges are by far one of the most popular virtual Christmas games to play on Zoom. To organize the exchange, have participants sign up on a platform like Elfster or Giftser, and set a date for pairs to be matched up and notified. Team members will enter their addresses into the website, and gift givers will send the presents before the exchange. Then, the group will meet up to open presents together during a video call.

Most Secret Santas have budgets of $25 or less, however you can set a price range most comfortable for your participants.

Pro tip: If you are serious about keeping the identity of the gift giver a secret and making the recipient guess, then you can instruct participants to use the boss’s address or the HQ address on the return label so that the sender stays secret. Otherwise, the recipients can be surprised by the content of the packages during the party, if not the sender.

Check out the full guide to virtual secret Santas .

8. White Elephant Exchange

White Elephant Exchanges are gift swaps where participants give each other gag gifts and steal each other’s presents. While it may seem hard to pull off the stealing aspect of the exchange online, you can facilitate the good-natured-gift thieving by using this slideshow template we made. Simply ask participants to send pictures of their gifts to the host, assign each gift a number, and have players click the picture of the numbered boxes to reveal the contents. Keep track of which guest claims ownership of which present throughout the game, and at the end of the activity have the gift holder mail the gifts to the right recipients.

If the stealing aspect seems too complicated, then you can also simply have team members give each other wacky gifts and follow virtual Secret Santa protocols.

Check out the full guide to doing virtual white elephant exchanges .

9. Santa’s Workshop

Santa’s Workshop is similar to a holiday take on “Shark Tank.” Players pretend to be elves pitching toys in Santa’s workshop. To start the game, split the group into teams by using breakout rooms. Each team will have five to seven minutes to come up with the coolest possible holiday toy. Then, participants will return to the main room, and pitch a panel of judges– Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the head elf– the toys. The judges will decide whether or not to give the toy the greenlight to get made. At the end of the presentations, the judges will pick one presentation to be the “popular toy of the season.”

10. Seasonal Trivia

Seasonal Trivia is one of the most fun online games for Christmas parties. To play, first prepare a set of holiday questions. Example Christmas categories might include movies, traditions, songs, and foods. Next, split the group into teams, and encourage them to choose festive team names, for instance, the “noel-it-alls.” You can also play trivia in a non-team format, and have players answer questions and score points individually.

There are many ways that you can structure your game. For example, you can send teams to a breakout room with a form to fill out, use Kahoot! or have players “buzz in” by typing a symbol in the chat or virtually raising a hand.

Here is a list of holiday trivia questions , and a guide to playing virtual trivia .

11. Babes in Toyland

Babes in Toyland is a holiday take on the game “Who da Baby.” Before the Zoom meeting starts, attendees send the host pictures of themselves as a kid on Christmas. The host makes and shares a slideshow, and participants must guess the identity of the kid in the photo.

For an extra challenge, participants can instead submit a photo of a gift they once wanted or got for Christmas, and other players must guess which teammate sent the photo.

12. Who Am I?

Who Am I? Is a guessing game with a holiday twist. Before the meeting, send out a survey to attendees. The easiest way to collect answers is with a fillable digital form, such as a Google Form.

Here are some sample questions to include:

• What is the most embarrassing or outrageous thing that ever happened to you around the holidays?
• What is the best gift you ever received?
• What is the worst gift you ever received?
• What is a special holiday tradition that your family follows?
• What do you want most for Christmas this year?

Once the meeting begins and the game starts, the host randomly selects an answer from each respondent and reads it aloud. The other players must guess who the answer belongs to. The first person to guess correctly wins one point.

13. Awkward Family Christmas Card

Awkward Family Christmas Card is one of the more unique virtual Christmas games to play on Zoom. To start the activity, first split the group into breakout rooms. Then, give each team five to ten minutes to create the most awkward Christmas card possible together by using the digital whiteboard feature. Be sure to give teams a one minute warning before closing the breakout rooms so that your artists have enough time to finish their cards and snap a screenshot before returning to the main room. Next, have each team take turns sharing their cards by dropping the file into the chat or sharing their screen. Finally, either have the group vote for the best photo, or have judges decide a winner.

14. Rich Kid Christmas

Rich Kid Christmas is an online holiday version of The Price is Right. To play the game on Zoom, first gather pictures of expensive items such as jet skis, trips, watches, collector’s item toys, cars, and so on. Then, share your screen to display the photos of these items, and have teams guess the price of the item without going over. Award points to the team who comes closest to the actual cost.

Pro tip: The more obscure an item is, the more challenging and amusing the game will be. You should include some well-known items so that the group is not totally stumped, yet feel free to also add a couple of oddballs!

Here are more virtual game show ideas .

15. Holiday Hangman

Holiday Hangman is a seasonal version of the classic word game. To play the game on Zoom, create a few slides with spaces for each letter in festive phrases. You can use Christmas greetings, titles of movies or holiday TV episodes, carols, stories, foods, and other seasonal terms. Each round, display a slide on screen via the screen sharing feature. Be sure that the annotation tool is on so that you can write in letters and draw the hangman.

Pro tip: If the traditional hangman seems too grim for the holidays, then you can substitute by drawing a crude Christmas tree instead.

Here are more word games to play with adults .

16. Christmas Movie Charades

Christmas Movie Charades is one of the simplest virtual family Christmas games. First, split the group into teams, then choose one team member at a time to act out the prompts. You can use a Christmas movie generator to choose the titles. Then, players have up to two minutes to act out a scene from the film or the title of the movie without using any words, and their team must guess the correct movie from context.

You can use this free charades generator for your games .

17. Holiday plot or not?

Holiday plot or not is a Christmas movie version of fact or fiction. In this game, the leader reads out a series of summaries of Christmas films, and the audience must vote on whether the movie actually exists or is imaginary.

Here are a few examples:

• A baker competing in a holiday bake-off swaps identities with an identical princess for two days leading up to the contest. (Plot! Princess Switch)
• A brother takes revenge on his sister’s prank presents by convincing her Christmas does not exist after she has a concussion from falling on the ice. (Not!)
• An up-in-coming young toy company executive finds love and a new sense of purpose when she crosses paths with a young man who has inherited an antique toy train shop. (Not!)
• An accidentally abandoned child helps foil a plot to burglarize a toy store. (Plot! Home Alone 2)
• A traumatized orphan goes on a killing spree while dressed as Santa Claus (Plot! Silent Night, Deadly Night)
• Two women find love after switching houses with each other for the holidays. (Plot! The Holiday)
• Two detectives pretend to be married to investigate a series of burglaries, with the main suspect being the head of the town’s Christmas committee. (Plot! The Santa Stakeout)
• A documentary on the surprisingly seedy after-hours lives of 5 department store Santas and elves. (Not!)
• An evergreen specialist and a Christmas tree farmer partner up to solve the mystery of the sickness that threatens this year’s crop. (Plot! You, Me, & The Christmas Tree.)
• A mute little girl discovers Christmas magic when she joins the church’s bell choir. (Not!)

Hosts can facilitate the vote by using the Zoom polling feature, or by having participants use the reaction feature.

18. Winter Minute to Win It

Christmas minute to win it games are holiday-themed activities where players compete to win challenges in under sixty seconds. There are many of these activities that you can play over Zoom with adults.

Here are some examples:

• Fondly, frostbitten – Wear mittens and type a paragraph
• Snowball b-ball – crumple up a ball off paper, stand three feet away, and toss the ball into a mug as many times as possible in one minute
• Christmas cookie face – place a Christmas cookie on your forehead. Without using your hands, move the cookie into your mouth.
• Tree toppers – Using spaghetti and marshmallows, make a tree, with a topper that stands up on its own.
• Cane hang – Hang as many candy canes on your face as possible in one minute.
• Bundle up – Put on as many layers of clothes as possible in sixty seconds.

To play these games, first have participants gather the needed supplies. Then, put sixty seconds on the clock and kick off the competition. At the end of the minute, award points accordingly.

Check out more virtual minute to win it ideas .

19. Guess the Gift

Guess the Gift is a holiday game of deduction. Each round, one team member thinks up a present. Then, the other players ask questions to narrow down the options and guess the item. For best results, limit the amount of possible questions to five or ten, or put a one minute time limit on each round. You can play this game in teams, and award points to any team who is able to guess the gift correctly within the allotted time or question allowance.

Another way to play this game is to have participants wrap up a few unusually shaped items and challenge other players to guess the contents of the package.

Check out more problem solving games .

20. Misheard Christmas Carols

Misheard Christmas Carols is a fun language game where players have to guess the title of the song based on a misheard lyrics. To play the game, the leader shares their screen and shows a card with a misheard carol. The first player to shout out the name of the correct Christmas carol, or type it in the chat, scores a point.

• Phil is not my dad. (Feliz Navidad)
• Decks and halls without a hobby (Deck the halls with boughs of holly)
• Eyesore mummy case in sand (I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus)
• Owl, tall– ow! knife!– battle them! (Oh little town of Bethlehem)
• Bayleaf is called for in the side. (Baby it’s cold outside)

Another way to play the game is to split the group into breakout rooms, and ask each team to come up with the most clever misheard Christmas carol lyric. Then, come back to the main room, share your answers, and vote on the funniest line.

21. Christmas Mad Libs

Christmas Mad Libs is a fun team game to play during video calls over the holidays. To do this activity, send players into breakout rooms with a list of word types to complete. Then, call players back to the main room, and insert those words into the blanks in a story. The out-of-context answers often produce hilarious results.

One easy way to make additional holiday Mad Libs is to gather Christmas stories, songs, and movie scenes, and replace words with blanks.

Final Thoughts

Throwing in-person parties is not the only way to have fun around the holidays. There are many engaging, online Christmas games that can spice up a seasonal Zoom party or work meeting. The best Zoom holiday games use the platform’s features and encourage active participation. These exercises can energize a video call and get groups into the holiday spirit no matter how far away from each other participants may be.

For more holiday fun, check out this list of hybrid Christmas activities , this collection of holiday party favor ideas and these Zoom games for families .

We also have a list of Christmas icebreaker games and a list of virtual Christmas party ideas in the UK .

Book wildly fun team building events with expert hosts

FAQ: Virtual Christmas games

Here are answers to common questions about virtual Christmas games.

What are virtual Christmas games?

Virtual Christmas games are fun holiday-themed activities and challenges to play with teams on video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet. The purpose of these exercises is to encourage team bonding and holiday cheer during December. These activities are also known as “online Christmas games” and “Zoom Christmas games.”

What are the best online games for Christmas parties?

The best online games for Christmas parties include Holiday This or That, Santa’s Workshop, Seasonal Trivia, and Christmas Mad Libs.

How do you play virtual Christmas games on Zoom?

To play Christmas games on Zoom, first gather your group on a Zoom call. Be sure to let attendees know whether they should have any supplies handy during the call, and prepare any necessary game materials like slides or questions. Then, explain the rules of the game, split members into teams, and play your chosen games. You can use Zoom features like breakout rooms, screen and audio sharing, chat, and reactions to facilitate the game. After the event, you can send prizes like digital gift cards to the winners of the games.

Author: Angela Robinson

Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com.

Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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Top 10 Primary Christmas Maths Activities For KS2 Classrooms

Anantha Anilkumar

It’s the time of year for Christmas maths activities! We’ve put our elves to work to find you the 10 best Christmas maths activities suitable for your KS2 pupils. Countdown the days of Christmas with these maths resources.

1. Christmas Maths Challenge Activities And Christmas Maths Worksheets

2. youngminds wellbeing advent calendar, 3. festive maths problems pack, 4. third space learning’s christmas maths activities, 5. christmas maths primary advent calendar, 6. christmas maths colouring activities, 7. every mind matters self-care tool, 8. christmas maths murder mystery, 9. putting on a christmas show, 10. christmaths website of ks2 christmas maths activities.

You won’t be surprised to hear that because this is a Third Space blog, our initial focus is around maths. However, given the importance of wellbeing for children receiving our 1-to-1 maths lessons we’ve also included a couple of brilliant wellbeing activities within this list too, not just for your pupils but for teachers as well!

So, in no particular order, take a look at our favourite key stage 2 Christmas activities and resources, guaranteed to give your children some fun maths lessons in the days before the holidays!

The Mathematics Shed, run by Graham Andre, is a great place to find engaging and effective activities across KS1 and KS2 and the Seasonal Maths Shed has fabulous activities to build numeracy for every holiday.

The activities cover multiple strands of maths and are easy to edit, depending on the needs of your pupils, with addition, subtraction, percentages and mental maths being just a few of the topics covered. Each is festive-themed, featuring Christmas presents, snowmen, and snowflakes.

One of our favourite fun Christmas maths activities from the Seasonal Maths Shed is the Xmas Hits Through the Decades worksheet. It’s always the right time for a bit of Wham right?

Link:  The Mathematics Shed

Twitter: @grahamandre

The lead up to the Christmas holidays can be a very exciting but also exhausting time. It is often easy at this time to get caught up in the busy atmosphere and forget to take care of the children’s and your wellbeing.

YoungMinds have created a wellbeing advent calendar to encourage you and your class to take some time out and enjoy the spirit of the season. With past activities ranging from sharing jokes to taking a moment to focus on breathing, there is inspiration for every class. 

Link: YoungMinds Wellbeing Advent Calendar  

Twitter: @YoungMinds

Key Stage 2 Christmas Maths Quiz

20 Year 5 / Year 6 Maths questions for some festive fun, including answer guide to find out their curriculum topic gaps

Even in the last few weeks of the term, you’ll need to keep your pupils learning. But as Christmas approaches your children’s work ethic might start to flag, and it might be tempting to give into the festive spirit.

Luckily, Third Space’s Festive Maths Pack lets you bring the Christmas spirit into the classroom without compromising on learning. This free printable download contains 21 reasoning and word problem-solving activities with a festive bent for you to use with your class.

The activities cover a wide range of topics, making them perfect for some surreptitious revision and consolidation of learning!

They’re designed for upper KS2 – years 5 and 6 – but some of the Christmas maths activities can be easily adapted for years 3 and 4.

Downloadable free resource: Third Space Festive Maths Pack

And there’s more from Third Space… all available to you for free:

• a free Christmas maths quiz ,
• some Christmas maths lessons suitable for Year 2 to Year 6
• daily maths questions , some with a wintery and Christmas theme on our maths hub.

Try them out and let us know what you think.

Looking for more fun maths activities ? Here are 19 fun end of term maths activities, some great back to school maths activities and our favourite fun maths lessons . If you want to send your pupils home with something to do in the holidays they won’t run out of ideas with these fun maths games for kids to do at home.

You will either be preparing to, or will have already, tucked into your advent calendar by now (and maybe eaten a few days ahead), so why not use a Maths advent calendar with your pupils? Every year, Nrich prepares a primary maths advent calendar linked to 24 engaging activities to use in the run-up to Christmas.

Each Christmas maths activity encourages Mathematical habits of mind: being curious, being thoughtful, being collaborative and being determined. These activities include Christmas co oridinates and colour by numbers.

The countdown until Christmas has become even more exciting with these fab activities from Nrich Maths.

Link:  Nrich Maths

Twitter: @nrichmaths

There are so many KS2 Christmas Maths activities available on Emaths, it was difficult to choose just one! Our favourite has to be the 4 x  Christmas Maths colouring activities  that incorporate addition, subtraction and multiplication. Perfect for struggling lower KS2 pupils, once completed, your pupils end up with a lovely, coloured image that’s perfect to take home to Mum and Dad. Take a look at our Christmas Maths Calculation Colouring Worksheet.

Emaths feature other great activities in Powerpoint, Excel and SmartBoard to use in the lead up to Christmas. If you’re looking for a bunch of KS2 Maths Christmas activities, this is the place to head to.

Link:  Emaths

Twitter: @EmathsUK

Teachers are well renowned for their selfless and caring attitudes but they sometimes forget the importance of their own mental health. We know self-care is always important but as Christmas can be a stressful time for many reasons, now might be a good time to reflect on how you are feeling and what you can do for your own wellbeing.

This tool from Public Health England asks you to complete a short quiz about your wellbeing before suggesting 6 self-care ideas that you could put into action. Make sure to take time for yourself in the lead up to Christmas and during the holidays.

Link: Every Mind Matters self-care tool

Mr Barton Maths is probably already on your must read list, but the Maths Christmas Activities and Resources section is a particular lifesaver during this point in the year. The section includes top Maths Christmas resources from the TES Maths website (secondary as well as primary).

Our top pick from Mr Barton’s selection is the  Christmas Maths murder mystery , guaranteed to be a crowdpleaser. Pupils are given a set of clue cards which define the task – of finding out who killed Santa – and give them all the necessary information to solve the mystery. This is a tricky but entertaining Christmas maths activity to encourage problem solving skills, and it is best suited to upper KS2.

Link:  Mr Barton Maths

Twitter: @mrbartonmaths

We couldn’t resist including this one, even if we’ve used it before…

Whether you’re taking the DfE’s advice to ‘hold a live nativity performance’ or not, you’ll find something to laugh at (and cry at after the year we’ve had!) here.

Mr P understands and his video shares the  struggles we’ve all experienced when putting on a show .

Remember that Christmas carol you loved before you agreed to organise your school’s nativity? Not anymore after rehearsing it for the thousandth time.

What about props falling midway through? You can handle a Christmas tree tumbling down as long as you’re prepared for it and have accepted it.

Be prepared for the technology to go wrong, half of your cast to be off sick and your Christmas play production to be one of your proudest moments this year.

If you like classroom laughs and learning about technology and you don’t already follow ICT with Mr P on Facebook you’re missing a trick.

Link:  Mr P’s ICT Blog

Twitter: @ICT_MrP

Christmaths Competition  website is a great resource to use  with your Year 6 class. We love just how many activities there are to choose from, including A Cartoon Christmaths, The Breindeer Christmaths and our personal favourite, Christmaths Crackers. These activites include fun ways to practice maths skills like sequencing, times tables practice demicals, counting activities, and code breakers.

If you’re on the hunt for exciting Maths tasks, this website is full of them – almost fuller than Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve! Thank you to the Twinkl KS2 Teaching Group on Facebook for this winner.

Link: The Christmaths Competiton

Here’s to a very relaxing and merry Christmas for all of you from everyone at Third Space Learning!

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Learn about the emphasis on building a positive maths mindset or request a personalised quote for your school to speak to us about your school’s needs and how we can help.

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Year 4 or 5 Christmas Maths Problem Solving

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15 November 2020

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11 Most effective decision-making games for work

A thriving business empowers employees to make smart decisions since these directly impact daily operations. What can leaders do to help their teams make better decisions?

One thing that smart managers and leaders do is facilitate effective decision making techniques , and you can do this with fun decision making games in the workplace. Such games encourage critical thinking and problem solving while instilling a culture of accountability. They’re the perfect addition to your next team-building retreat or company meeting. Let’s take a look at some of the most entertaining decision making games out there. 

11 Decision making games for your workplace

1. phone booth.

This game is great for small teams of 4-6 people, so if you have larger groups you’ll want to break them up. You also need to create separate “phone booths” for each team, where they won’t be in direct contact with each other. You can do this with various partitions or cardboard pieces. Ideally, the booths should fit everyone, and they won’t hear or be able to chat with the other groups. Set a timer for about 20 minutes, and give the teams a problem to solve. For example, you might want to say “Find some new ways to increase customer satisfaction.” Each team will spend some time on this problem (remember, while not speaking to other teams). At the end of the designated time, have the teams come together and discuss their strategies. Then hold a discussion for everyone where you talk about what worked well and what didn’t. How did everyone work together? Did the best ideas float to the top? Did a natural leader emerge in discussions? If you want to enhance the team-building aspect of this game, you can have the teams work together to build their phone booth before getting started. 

2. Shout Out

In this game, members collaborate and contribute by shouting out some ideas. You’ll need some sort of white board or flip chart, and plan for 3 - 10 people in a group. First come up with a problem that you want to discuss. For example, “How can we reduce waste in our production process?” or “How can we bring that new product to market one week faster?” Give each person the opportunity to yell out an idea so that the whole group can hear. Once everyone has had a chance to speak, ask the group to come to a consensus on the best option, and then hold a discussion about it. Why is it the best idea? What makes it workable, etc? Also, did everyone feel listened to? How did the results from this process differ from just speaking to each other? This gives your employees a chance to learn more about problem solving processes and cooperation, in addition to potential solutions to real business issues. For more communication games and activities, visit our blog .

3. Desert Survival

The ability to make quick decisions (that are actually good) is highly coveted in most businesses. You want people around you who can quickly understand a situation and make choices, all while cooperating with others. This activity is a good first step toward honing those skills. To start, you’ll need to make a list of items necessary for survival. In your list, include anything you think you would want if stranded on a desert island - no item is too small or unimportant, just brainstorm everything a person might need. Then, divide larger groups into teams of 10 or less. Hand out the list and tell them they need to narrow down the list to only 5 items. They must come to a consensus on these items. Set a timer for just 5 minutes so they feel some pressure. At the end of the exercise, you can hold a discussion about how each group reached their consensus. This is also a great opportunity for management to observe the natural leaders in each group, which can be really helpful knowledge for delegation down the road. 

4. Trading post

Understanding pricing and its effects on supply and demand is a natural skill in the business world. This game can help your employees to focus on this area in new ways. You can do this game for any length of time, so it’s perfect for fitting into most agendas. Start with two groups, a pile of fake money, and some simple items to trade like paper clips or pencils. Each group should have their own money and supply of items. The groups will need to decide what things cost and come up with trade terms. Then, they should get busy buying, selling, and trading. At the end of the exercise, bring everyone together and see who came out ahead. Why did one group do better than the other? What did everyone learn? Supply and demand are pretty simple economic concepts that most people know, but this is a fun reminder and refresher. 

5. Resource scramble

In this game, teams will have the opportunity to practice some critical thinking and problem solving skills (as well as collaboration). Put people into groups of no more than 8, and give everyone a basket of simple supplies. For example, markers, paper clips, glue, and clay - things you have around the office are fine. Provide each team with a problem and have them use their set of resources to solve it. Obviously this game works better if the resources could actually be applied to the problem, so you might want to suggest something like “Design a new logo” or “build a prototype of a new seasonal product”. Ideally, the group will come up with a few solutions and decide on their favorite, but they may only produce one if everyone is in agreement and timing is tight. 

6. Ranking race

Thinking critically - and quickly - is a highly coveted skill in the professional world. This game calls for creating a ranking system, which is a natural way of thinking through information and categorizing it. It’s a really versatile exercise since no materials and very little prep time are required. Start by getting people into groups of no more than 10. Then, set a timer and give each group a list of items to rank, such as the best local restaurants or top movies of the year. Task each group with coming up with their own ranking system. When the timer goes off, everyone should present their final rankings. They can describe to the group how they came up with their ranking system and why the items are weighted the way that they are. Have teams make notes if they find a certain ranking system particularly helpful - maybe that’s a matrix that more people can use in the workplace going forward. For more team-building games with no materials , quick office games , or indoor team-building activities, make sure to follow our blog . 

7. Traffic light project management

Anyone who has managed a project before - or even worked as part of one - understands the importance of deadlines and status check-ins. This activity helps to drive those points home and give everyone practice on sorting through tasks and understanding progress. Teams can have any number of people, but it is a good idea to break large groups into smaller, more workable ones. Come up with a certain goal that you want them to meet. For example, hitting a certain sales quota within a quarter, or finding a less expensive office space to lease. The team should start by documenting all of the tasks that need to be done in order to meet the goal. When all of their tasks are written down, they should go through them and assign them a red, yellow, or green traffic light. The light colors represent things that are not done (and need to be done), the yellow represents items that are already in progress but not finished, and green means that task is already completed. Then they should use this light system to prioritize tasks. This provides a powerful visual when managing projects and can be applied to most initiatives that have multiple phases or tactics. 

8. Six thinking hats

If you want your team to focus on coming up with more creative solutions, this activity can help. You’ll need to organize people into groups of no more than 10, and have several different color paper hats. Each hat represents a different perspective. Here are some sample colors and what they correlate to: 

• White: Facts and information
• Red: Emotions and feelings
• Black: Critical analysis
• Yellow: Benefits and positives
• Green: Creativity and alternatives
• Blue: Big picture thinking

Give each group a problem to solve and tell them to approach the issue from their unique “hat” perspective. Using these different philosophies, the group should come up with a solution that works for everyone and takes all of these positions into account. You can have a debrief where everyone discusses the process and what they found most challenging. If you have time, you can always add a second or even third round where people switch their hats and approach a new issue from a different perspective. This is also a great exercise for managers to observe closely. It’s a great way of seeing how people think and where their strengths lie. 

9. SWOT analysis

This is more of an activity than a game, but still a really helpful one in most corporate environments. You’ll need space for taking notes, like a whiteboard or note pads. You can have any number of people on a team, so just divide groups according to what works for your event. Give each group a problem or project to analyze. They should complete a proper SWOT analysis, which consists of documenting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Each team can present their analysis following their work. This is a great way to brush up on some broad business and analysis skills that can be used in any workplace. 

10. Dot voting

Does your team tend to go off on tangents and get into circular discussions when talking about projects or issues? Meetings that devolve into unrelated conversations are a big challenge in many workplaces. You can practice these skills with this exercise, dot voting. To do it, all you need to do is present the issue and then have everyone suggest ideas for a solution. Write them down on the white board so everyone can see. Then, hand out sticky notes and have everyone place their papers under the ideas they like best. You might let them choose only one, or up to 3. Once everyone has had their turn, you will have an obvious visual that shows which of the ideas was most popular. This is a great tactic that can be used in many different meetings, discussion, and brainstorming sessions. 

11. Effort and impact scale

This is another exercise that can be applied in so many ways in most workplaces. It provides a strong visual of the effort required and the potential impact of various solutions. You’ll start by drawing a matrix on a white board that everyone can see clearly. Create four quadrants by drawing lines from the mid-point of each scale. Have everyone write their ideas or solutions on a sticky note. They should have a single sticky note for each entry. Next, collect the sticky notes and read them out loud to the group, one by one. Then hold the sticky note over the quadrant you made, and ask the larger group “Is the effort required to implement this idea higher or lower?” Depending what the group says, move the paper along the scale. Then, ask them if the potential impact could be higher or lower. Repeat this process until all of the sticky notes are placed somewhere on the matrix. At this point, you’ll have a visual of which ideas can make the most impact, with the lowest effort - and those are your winners. You can also take things a step further and prioritize the ideas, too. 

Include decision making games in your next team retreat

Work retreats and team-building events are the perfect opportunities to bring out some decision making games. Many of these ideas require very little preparation and don’t need a lot of people, so they are perfect for filling that empty 30-minute slot in your agenda. Or, you can put more thought into this portion of your event and broaden the time allotted for these activities. Either way, decision making games are perfect for improving collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking on your team.

If you’re not sure where to start in putting together a powerful agenda for your next team-building retreat , let us help. 

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